Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1887-10-22


progress Of 80 great multitude was necessa-
rily slow-we camped two miles this side Of
the neck or ridge have spoken OF, and our
outposts brought us word that Sorais, with
all her power, was rolling down upon us, and
had camped that night ten miles the further
side of the nccls.
Accordingly, before dawn wo sent forward
100 cavalry to seize the position. Scarcely
had they occupied II, however, before they
were attacked by about as many of 6orais'
horsemen, and very smart little cavalry
Eight ensued, with a loss TO us Of about thirty
men killed. On the advance Of our supports,
however, Sorais' forca drew or, carrying
their dead and wounded with them.
The main body Of the army reached tho
neck about dinner time, and / must say that
Nyleptha's Judgment Lnd not failed her; 1t
was an admirable place to Give battle in, es-
pecially to asuperior force.
The road ran down mile or more, through
ground too broken TO admit Of the handling
of any considerable force, till 1t reached the
crest Of great green wave Of land that
rolled down gentle slope TO tho banks Of
little stream, and then rolled away again up
still gentler slope TO the plain beyond, the
distance from the crest OF tho land wave
down to tho stream being little over half
mile, and from the stream up to the plain be-
| yond tri1e less. The length OF this wave
| Of land at its highest point, which CORE
sponded exactly with the width OF the neck
| OF land between tho wooded hills, was about
two miles and quarter, and it was protected
on either side by dense, rocEy, bush clad
ground that afforded most valuable cover
to the tanks of the army, and rendered 1t
almost impossible for them to be turned.
1t was on the higher slope Of this neck of
land that Curtis cncampcd his army in the
same formation that he had, after consulta-
ton with the various generals, Good end my
self. determined that they should occupy u
the great pitched battle which now nppearei
to be imminent.
Our force Of 60,00O men was, roughly
speaking, divided as follows. In tho cer.tef
was dense body Of 20, 900 foot soldiers, armed
with spears, swords and ilippopotainus hide
shields, breast and bac.: Plates. These formed
the chest of the army, ami were supported by
| 5000 foot and 5000 horse in reserve. On
either side Of this chest were stationed 1000
horse arranged in deep, majestic squairons;
and beyond, and on either side, but slightly
in front of them, again were two bodies,
numbering about 900 spearmen each, FORM
ing the right and left wings Of the army, and
each supported by contingent of some 1900
cavalry. This snakes In all CO,0OO men.
Carts commanded In chief, was in com
mand Of The 1000 horse between the chest an,
right wing, which was commanded by Good
and the other battalions and sqaadrons were
intiusted to Zr- vendi generals
Scarcely had VIC taken up our positions be-
FORE Sorais' vast army began to swarm on the
opposi,e slope about mile in front of us, till
tho whole place seemed alive with the multi
tu,lo Ct her spear pciits, and the ground
sbool, with the tramp Of her battalions. II
was evident that the spies had not cxaC-
rerated: we wero outnnmbered by at least q
third. At first we expected that Sorais was
going to cttack Us at once, as the clouds OF
cavalry which hung upon her tanks executed
some threatening demonstrations, but SHE
thought better of it, and there was 10 fight
.lint day. Ms for the formation OF her great
.orces cannot now describe it with accuracy,
and it would only serve TO bewider il ! did,
out may say, generally, tat il its leading
features Ii resembled cur own, only her re-
serve was much greater.
Opposite orr right wing, end forming
Sorais' left wing wGs great army OF dark
wild looking men, ermed with sword and
shield only, which, was Informed, was com.
posed of Nasta's Is 900 savage hillsinen.
any word, Good" said !, when saw them,
ayou viii catch it tomorrow when those
gentlemen charger whereat Good not un-
naturally looked rather anxious.
All day we watched and waited, but moth
nc happened, and at last night fell, and O
thousand watch fires twinkled brightly on the
slopes, to wano and die ono by one like the
stars they resembled, as the hours wore on
and the silence gradually gathered more
deeply over the opposing hosts.
1t was very wearying night, for in adj
dition to the endless things that had been
seen to, there was our gnawing suspense to
reckon with. The fray which tomorrow
would witness would be SO vast, and the
slau liter SO awful, that stout, indeed, must
Tho heart have been TIA. vas not over
wlelmed at the prospect.
The time wore away Till everything was
ready for the coming slaughter; and
lay down and thought, and tried to get q
| little rest.
And ct last up came tho red sun, and the
hugo camps cwoke with o clash and roar,
and gathered themselves together for battle.
1t was beautiful and awe inspiring scene,
and old Unlslopogaas, leaning on bis az,
contemplated it with grim delight.
@Never have seen lie like, Macumazabn,
r,ever,r he said. "The battles Of my people
IRE as the play of children to what this viii
be. Thinlzest thou that they will fight i:
nut?o
"Ay,' / answered sadly, ito the death.
Content thyself, sWoodpecke-, for cnce shalt
thou find thy FILL"
limo went on. and still there was no sign
If an attack. A force Of cavalry crossed
the brook, indeed, and rode slowly along our
front, evidently taking stock of our position
and numbers With this we did not attempt
to interfere, cs our decision was to stand
strictly on the defensive, and not to waste q
single man. The men breakfasted and stood
to their arms, and the hours wore on. About
midday, when the men were eating their
dinner, for we thought they would fight bet
ter on full stomachs, q shout Of @Sufais
sorais,n arose like thunder from the enemy's
extreme right, and taking the glass, was
able to clearly distinguish the Lady Of the
| Night herself, surrounded by . glitterine
staff, and riding slowly down the lines Of hel
battaions. And as she went, that mighty
, laundering shout rolled along before her like
the rolling of 10000 charlots, or the roaring